For a brief historical sketch of each farm, click on the farm name.
The following map is for a general geographical understanding. It does not provide the specific locations of the farms because of privacy reasons.
Tim Keeton
The ideas of progressive farming have shaped the
twentieth century rural landscape. The Keeton Century Farm is a perfect example
of how farmers over the last 100 years have changed the look of the land. The
Keeton Farm dates to 1851 when Robert and Catherine Keeton acquired just over
157 acres of land seven miles south of Scotts Hill in the 1st
District of Decatur County. The Keetons grew corn, cotton and hay and raised
cattle. During the Civil War, the Confederate army used the farm site as a
mustering station.
Dr. John L. Keeton, one of Robert and Catherine’s eleven
children, was the second family owner of the farm. A practicing medical doctor,
John managed the farm with the help of his wife Margaret Kelley. The third
generation owner was Robert F. Keeton, the founders’ grandson. Robert erected a
log building on the property which became the genesis of the
In 1922, the family farm passed into the hands of Bedford
B. Keeton, who owned the property for the next 53 years and expanded its 157
acres to almost 900 acres. According to the family,
Bedford Keeton died in 1975 and the farm passed into the
hands of four children and one grandson. Charles and Billy Keeton, along with
Marjorie K. Fiddler, inherited timber land while Bryan E. and Timothy B. Keeton
inherited the farming operation. Timothy Keeton is the owner of the farm today.
Today four pre-1886 buildings remain intact on the farm: the farmhouses of both
John Keeton and Bedford Keeton, the log store and a log barn.
Eddie L. Smart
The Lafferty
Farm, located southeast of Scotts Hill in the Bath Spring community, was founded
when Clinton Howard Lafferty purchased 234 acres on November 17, 1853. Clinton
and his wife, Adaline Cordelia, had six children; Rachel A., Eliza Jane, William
Carroll, Oliver Howard Perry, and Walter Howell. The family raised various farm
animals and grew vegetables. The Lafferty cemetery was established with the
first generation and is still used today.
After Clinton
Lafferty passed away, the property was divided and inherited by Oliver and
Walter Lafferty. In 1930, two brothers exchanged their tracts of land with
Walter who then farmed on just over 143 acres. He and his wife, Lonie Tucker
Lafferty, had four children – Chester, Webster, Olive, and Herman. The farm was
described as being “an attractive place; flowering shrubs, a rock wall across
the front yard, [and] a big spring close by.”
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Several
buildings that also served the community were constructed on the farm. In 1907,
a meeting facility for the Farmers Union was built. It later became the Union
Hall School. The Dunbar Community
Center and a training facility for veterans coming back from World War II were
also built on the farm. The small training facility provided veterans with a
place to stay and learn skills.
In 1955, the
founder’s grandson, Chester and his wife Jessie West, acquired the farm from his
parents for $200. They farmed approximately 81 acres, ran the Dunbar Community
Club from the Community Center, and worked in the Union Hall Schoolhouse located
on the farm. They were also known
for their award-winning garden.
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The present
owners are Eddie Smart and his wife Carolyn Adams Smart. Eddie, the
great-great-grandson of the farm’s founder, and Art Bawcum, his son-in-law, grow
hay and vegetables while raising cattle on the 81 acre farm. Today, Art and his
wife, Diana Smart Bawcum who is the daughter of Eddie and Carolyn,
and their two children, Haden and Shelby, live in the house built by
Chester Lafferty. The Union Hall Schoolhouse, built in 1907, also remains
intact.
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Lealon Wyatt, Jr.
Dating to 1852, the Lealon Wyatt Farms are located
twelve miles south of Decaturville. The history of this land indicates how
early settlers used the
At the end of the Civil War, in 1866, James R. Wyatt
inherited a farm of 196 acres. He and his wife Elvira Wyatt guided the farm
through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Like many farmers of the
time, the Wyatts produced a variety of agricultural commodities, from corn and
cotton to goats and mules. To increase their production, the family also
acquired 32 additional acres of land.
Of James and Elvira’s ten children, David Chesley Wyatt
obtained title to 228 acres in 1916. David and Maggie Wyatt led the farm into
the progressive era of agriculture, breeding Poland China swine,
In 1947, the farm passed to Lealon Wyatt, the great grandson of the founders. As of 2001, Lealon’s son Lealon, Jr., works 236 acres, raising breeded livestock, corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, clover, peanuts and cotton. The family still uses the farm’s original dwelling and log crib, both of which date to 1840.
Photo: Mr. and Mrs. Lealon Wyatt standing behind their flock of sheep.
Roy Moore
The influence of nineteenth century agricultural
organizations such as the Grange, the Agricultural Wheel and the Farmers’
In 1869, Leroy P. Moore inherited the farm from his
mother. Leroy played a major role in establishing the local Agricultural Wheel,
a progressive agrarian organization of the late nineteenth century. “As a
member of the Agricultural Wheel,” according to the family, “Leroy P. Moore did
go around the community giving help on how to best raise crops.” Leroy’s own
crops included cattle, swine, corn, cotton, sorghum, timber and wheat. Wed to
Mary Rushing, he was the father of seven children.
Roy Moore, the great grandson of Jessee and Margret Moore, inherited approximately 150 acres of the family land in 1958. As of 1976, he operated 375 acres, growing cotton, corn, peas and hay and managing herds of cattle and swine. At that time, three of the farm’s mid-nineteenth century buildings remained in use: the dwelling, corn crib and barn.
Robert W.
Myracle
Harvey
Washington “H.W.” and his wife, Sarah Keeton Myracle established the Myracle
Farm in 1885. This was three years after their marriage, Harvey had been widowed
twice, and the 200 acres was purchased from Sarah’s brother, W. B. Keeton.
Harvey bought the land with money saved from his army pension; he had served in
the Civil War with the 81st Illinois Regiment.
On their farm southwest of Decaturville, the couple had six children
between 1883 and 1895 but only five survived to adulthood. The family grew
cotton and corn while also raising mules, horses, cattle, hogs, and chickens.
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In 1908,
Sarah and H.W. died within a week of each other leaving the farm to their
children. The farm was divided into five blocks by the court and granted to the
children in 1910. Orville sold his
block in 1916 and purchased block five from his sister and brother-in-law,
Sallie Myracle Ward and G. W. Ward, for $700. Sallie and G. W. had three
children – Ruel, Will, and Myracle – and raised livestock and row crops.
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After Orville
purchased the 51 acres of block five from his sister, he and his wife Nannie
Culp managed the farm and raised four children there – Catherine, Alf, Edwin,
and Louise. After World War II,
Edwin returned home and built a house and barn.
In 1958, he purchased the block five acreage and here he and his wife,
Deliah Mae Dunavant, raised their children Anita Myracle Presson and Robert W.
Myracle. The family farm products were much the same but soybeans were added.
In 1996,
Robert W. Myracle purchased the 51 acre farm from his parents. He and his wife,
Elizabeth Jean Dunn, live on the farm along with their daughter, Amanda, her
husband, John Keeton, and their three children, Levi, Ethan, and McKinley.
Today, Robert raises cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats as well as hay.
Cleo and Claudean Rhodes
Located ten miles from Parsons is the Rhodes Farm that was founded
by John Prior Hill in the 1850s. He and
his wife, Rebecca Aldridge Hill, had four children. On the 140 acre farm, corn, pigs and cattle
were raised. The
The second owner of the property was
the founder’s daughter, Fannie Elizabeth Hill and her husband James Johnson.
James enlisted in company D of the 2nd Regiment of the West
Tennessee Cavalry in 1862. He contracted
smallpox and died from the disease in November of 1863. He is buried in the family cemetery. William Campbell and Sarah were the children
of Elizabeth and James. Eventually, William
bought his sister’s share of the farm and when he died he passed the land to
his two daughters, Ada Hearington and Genora Evans.
The farm was acquired by Genora’s daughter Mable and her husband Roby Inman. After Mable and Roba died, the land was inherited by their daughter, Claudean. Today, Claudean, her husband Cleo Rhodes and their family including son Keith, live and work on the farm producing corn, soybeans and hay.
P. W. Welch
In 1850, Henry and Mary White Welch acquired title to
69 acres and established the Welch Century Farm. Henry expanded his farm
acreage fivefold over the next five decades but sold much of this land to other
area farmers. Welch enjoyed success in raising corn, cotton, cattle and swine.
Henry and Mary, founding members of the
Patrick H. Welch became the farm’s second owner in 1900.
At one time, he worked over 400 acres producing corn, cotton, hay, cattle,
swine, mules and sheep. A steward in the
Patrick Welch married Nannie Garrett and they were the
parents of eight children. In 1945, their son P. W. Welch acquired 239 acres of
the farm. Four decades later, P.W. and his daughter’s family, Mr. and Mrs.
Jerry L. Ivey, owned 319 acres. In 1976, Welch’s agricultural commodities
included corn, hay, soybeans, cattle and swine.
Sarah A. Vise
Stacy D. Vise
James Landon Vise
Two Century Farms originated with the couple George Malachi “Mal” and wife Sarah
Tennessee “Tennie” Smith Vise when they established a farm of 220 acres of farm
land southeast of Decaturville in 1909. The
couple had seven children and raised mules, horses, and hogs while growing corn,
sorghum, and vegetables. In addition to faming, the family ran a store named Mal
Vise and Sons. Mal died in 1926 and left the farm to his son, John Wesley Vise.
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The same year John inherited the family farm, his first wife died leaving him
with eight young children. Tennie, his mother, stayed with him and helped raise
the children. Like his father, he operated the store while also adding cotton,
peanuts, hay, sheep, and cattle to the crops and livestock grown on the farm.
Two of the Vise boys, Earnest “Roach” and James Landon “Pig” Vise, remained on
the farm and worked it with their father. They also purchased land of their own
which surrounded the existing farm acreage.
In 1977, Roach acquired 108 acres and Pig acquired 112 acres of the family farm.
Both grew corn, soybeans, hay, wheat, milo, cotton and raised pigs, cattle,
sheep, and timber. Roach married Billie Burton McCurry and had one daughter,
Sarah Ann. Pig married Emily Ann Jennings and they had three children – James
Douglas, Ronnie Frank, and Joy Elizabeth Vise. The Vise brothers and their
family, though owning separate land parcels, worked together and were very
involved in their community’s agricultural programs like FFA, 4-H, the Farm
Bureau, and livestock organizations.
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The next owners to assume management and ownership of their parents’ individual
farms were Sarah Ann Vise and her cousin James Douglas Vise. James married Hilda
Jane White and had three children – Tracy, Beronica, and Stacy. Sarah Ann, who
retired after forty years of teaching, rents her land to Stacy, her second
cousin, who also owns the Vise Farm 2 along with his father. Though he grows
many of the same crops as previous generations, Stacy uses modern technology to
plant 30,000 seeds per acre. “We now use
self-propelled sprayers with GPS systems, grid soil sampling, special spreading
trucks, and self-propelled combines.”
Stacy, who holds a degree in animal science from MTSU, is an
award-winning farmer. He and his wife, Tara Lenay Turnbo have two children who
participate in 4-H. The Vise family
combines twentieth century history and buildings, including the 1910
farmhouse, with twenty-first century farming methods.